Rahul Gandhi meets debt-ridden farmer’s family, eats ‘langar’

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi met the family of a farmer who committed suicide due to debt, and later offered prayers at the Takht Damdama Sahib in Punjab’s Bathinda district on Friday.

Rahul, accompanied by Punjab Congress chief Pratap Singh Bajwa and former chief minister Amarinder Singh, visited the family of farmer Jagdev Singh, who had killed himself recently unable to face the burden of debt and crop failure.

Rahul Gandhi offered financial assistance of Rs.1 lakh to the farmer’s family and assured to take up its plight with the government.

The Congress vice president offered prayers at Takht Damdama Sahib, one of the five Takhts of Sikh religion and an important shrine.

He joined devotees at the ‘langar’ (community dining hall) at the gurdwara along with other leaders and partook the simple fare that is on offer.

This was the second day of Rahul Gandhi’s two-day visit to Punjab.

On Thursday, he visited the families of two victims who were killed in police firing last month on protestors agitating against incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in recent months.